


Can You Stay By My Side?

by Yun_1991



Series: It's a Rainy Night (So Sit Next to Me) [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Don't read if you don't want spoilers, Fluff and Angst, Fuck you Mingming for posting that picture on your Instagram, I literally almost cried, I'm not done with Idol Producer Season 2 yet, Infidelity (this tag makes it sound worse than it actually is), I’m not quite sure where I got this title from tbh lol, Light Angst, M/M, So Mingming spoiled it for me smh, There's not much but still
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-11 05:19:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18423669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yun_1991/pseuds/Yun_1991
Summary: Mingming runs into a familiar face after filming the last episode of Idol Producer Season 2





	Can You Stay By My Side?

**Author's Note:**

> I'm in class right now and should be paying attention, but we all got different priorities ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> This is unbeta'd, so please forgive me for any mistakes.
> 
> Also, I stand by my tags. Fuck you Mingming for almost making me cry and for the spoilers. I should've taken Mandarin instead of Korean as my language requirement for university smh

Mingming gathers up the rest of the 8 young men in a small huddle for a group selca. All 9 of them smile brightly into the camera, sealing into digital film a moment for all of them to remember. For six years, he had worked so hard to get to this point in his life. Many a hardship had knocked him down, and while it’s cliche to say it, all his hard work did pay off in the end.

 

He takes a couple more pictures and posts it on his SNS (damn did it feel good to finally get a hold of it after 4 months of no social media whatsoever). Instagram in particular is flooded with international fans cheering him on and spamming his comment section. Many of them are along the lines of “You’re finally debuting!” and “Congratulations, Mingming! We knew you could it!” And those move his heart, but the comments from Carat fans are what threaten to reduce him into ugly crying and ruining his eye makeup.

 

“It’s okay to cry, you know.”

 

Mingming freezes at the voice behind him. He knows that voice well. He had long blocked it out of his memory for fear of having to face the owner of the voice after all these years. But he still wills himself to do it.

 

He hasn’t seen Junhui in years, but the familiar feeling of his stomach doing flips and his heart racing begin again. Junhui has always been beautiful, but the years have been good to him, way too good. Gone is the long hair he likes to tie into a cute ponytail and instead he sports a handsome comma hairstyle. And he’s not blonde anymore. Instead he has warm brown hair that matches his warm smile. It’s almost unfair also how Junhui is wearing minimal makeup — just concealer here and there to hide the lack of sleep and the surplus of stress from the life of a debuted idol. And the subtle sheen of a berry lip tint? Mingming remembers Junhui’s lips to be kissable, but today they just look ready to be devoured.

 

But Mingming holds himself back.

 

“Congratulations for debuting,” Junhui says. His demeanor is shy, his voice unsure, and all Mingming wants to do is wrap him in his arms and coo at how cute he is. But he can’t.

 

“Thank you,” Mingming smiles. “I thought you would’ve been busy.”

 

“I had time after a photoshoot to come here.”

 

“They picked the right person to model.”

 

Junhui gives him a bashful smile. Mingming is sure his heart is about to burst from pumping so quickly. “These are for you,” Junhui says, picking up something from the chair behind him and presenting it with a dramatic flourish of his arm. Mingming bows in gratitude and receives the bouquet of red carnations and bright yellow daffodils. “They’re beautiful,” Mingming remarks.

 

 _Just like you_ , he so desperately wants to add.

 

“Would you like to sit down?” Mingming asks.

 

“Oh,” Junhui fumbles. “I can’t stay long, actually. I was just here to give you those and then I—“

 

“Baobei.”

 

Mingming doesn’t think hearing Minghao’s voice could get any more painful. At the time of the first episode when he had expressed that he knew Mingming from five years ago and wished him good luck, it only served to remind him that he was supposed to debut with Seventeen.

 

_With Jun._

 

He misses them greatly. He misses the days where he would wake up in the dorms to his future group mates and not expecting whatever shenanigans were bound to happen today. He misses having Seungcheol fret over him and Seungkwan goofing around with the other fourteen boys not for the camera’s sake, but for the sake of brightening the mood. Hell, he even misses Jihoon, that fucking devil. If Mingming ever runs into him again, he’ll be sure to stay away from a guitar.

 

But most of all, he misses waking up and trotting over to the bunk bed across from him to smooth out Jun’s hair in the morning so that the other doesn’t wake up with bedhead. He misses sneaking kisses with the older Chinese boy and whispering sweet nothings to each other in Mandarin. He misses the way Jun would sing lullabies to him when Mingming was homesick and how vigorously they would dance together in the practice rooms. He misses making Jun moan in pleasure at the dead of night in the bathroom when no one else was awake and he misses the skinship the both of them would initiate.

 

They both know it wasn’t Mingming’s fault that he suddenly had to return to China, but he knows it was his fault for breaking Junhui’s heart. And all Mingming could say before he was packing his bags to go to the airport was, “It’s okay to cry, you know.” And Junhui did cry. He cried in Mingming’s arms with his face buried in his shoulders, lithe body racking every time he tried to not make a sob.

 

And the whole time, Mingming knew Minghao watched as the boy they were both pining over sobbed in his arms.

 

“Hao,” Junhui breathes. There’s an airiness to his voice that Mingming remembers would be something Junhui had saved just for him six years ago. Mingming pretends that his heart doesn’t tighten when his ex calls for another right in front of him.

 

Minghao is careful to not linger his touch around Junhui with the camera crew still in the process of cleaning up. It’s unlikely that Seventeen’s Chinaline will be caught on national Chinese television engaging in very suggestive skinship, but after four years of the idol life, they can never be too careful. But Mingming doesn’t miss the territorial glint in Minghao’s eyes.

 

“You did well, Mingming,” Minghao says with a nod of acknowledgement. “Congratulations for debuting. I hope to see you perform alongside us on the same stage one day.”

 

“Likewise,” Mingming returns.

 

“We should be going,” Minghao prompts, tugging on Junhui’s sleeve lightly. The elder’s gaze lingers on Mingming just a moment before it registers to him that his lover is speaking to him. Junhui looks back at him with an apologetic smile and then bows slightly at Mingming. Minghao follows immediately after.

 

“Jun hyung,” Mingming says suddenly in Korean. He doesn’t know what prompts him to switch languages. Maybe it’s the way both of their backs are turned at him to return back to their hectic idol lifestyle. But whatever it is, the two Seventeen idols look back at Mingming with curiosity.

 

“What is it, Mingming-ah?” Junhui returns in the same language.

 

“Did you ever get that date at the Han River to watch the sunrise?”

 

A look of surprise crosses Junhui’s face, then a smile full of nostalgia. Tears well up in the elder’s eyes but they don’t fall. Junhui shakes his head.

 

“Myungho-ssi,” Mingming says, turning his attention to his ex’s current lover. “Take Jun Hyung to the Han River at 5 am sharp, pack some breakfast, and watch the sun rise. Don’t tell him when, just surprise him suddenly. I don’t care how you do it, but do it.”

 

_Because I can’t anymore._

 

Minghao squeezes his lover’s hand lightly. The camera crew has long disappeared, so now he has nothing to worry about. He regards Mingming with caution at first, then looks at Junhui, who’s currently dabbing at his eyes with his sleeve to wipe away any stray tears. Minghao softens up when he looks back at Mingming and nods. “I understand.”

 

Junhui inhales slightly and takes a moment to compose himself. He plays with the idea of closure. Junhui looks over at Minghao, as if asking for permission. The other nods again, albeit he looks unwilling. Junhui steps forward and takes Mingming to a more private area. Minghao informs his lover that he’ll be waiting for him outside and begins to walk ahead. Junhui scoffs slightly at his boyfriend but doesn’t stop him. Minghao would be mad at him for days, maybe weeks, if he so much caught a glimpse at the ideas lurking inside Junhui’s head.

 

“I’ll see you soon, Mingming,” Junhui says in a hushed voice.

 

“Yeah,” Mingming smiles.

 

Mingming is the one who has done well in resisting the temptation to touch the man who is no longer his, so it’s a bittersweet irony to him that it’s Junhui who leans forward instead to capture his lips in a tender kiss. Junhui tastes like vanilla, a sweetness that brings back beautiful memories that Mingming remembers all too well. Junhui’s lips are still so plush and soft, still so warm and inviting. Mingming pulls away first and looks into his ex’s eyes.

 

Still beautiful.

 

“Thank you for loving me,” Junhui says quietly in their shared air. “And thank you for letting me love you. I wish I could still be the one for you, but my love for you has changed.”

 

“Don’t apologize,” Mingming scolds in a hushed voice. “You do that too much. You’re still a bleeding heart after all these years. I’m happy that you’re happy. I hope Minghao treats you well — still treats you well. He’s a lucky man.”

 

Junhui giggles a little. God, how Mingming misses his cute giggles.

 

“You should go,” he urges. “Minghao is waiting for you.”

 

Junhui nods. “I’ll see you soon,” he says one last time before he walks off to the exit to meet his boyfriend. Mingming sighs contently, like a weight is finally gone from his shoulders. He snaps out of his momentary state of peace when he feels his phone vibrate. He opens a text from Wenhan. The Yuehua trainee/UNIQ member is asking Mingming where the hell he is, because “We have to take pictures with the other teachers too!” So Mingming hurries back to the main stage to take pictures with the other mentors and Zhang PD.

 

He’ll look at the spam of congratulatory texts from Junhui later.

 


End file.
